Scottish Executive

Air Services

Bruce Crawford (Mid Scotland and Fife) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S1W-10194 by Sarah Boyack on 25 October 2000, what areas of air freight traffic have shown growth over the last ten years; by what percentage each area has grown over this period, and what projections of air freight traffic levels are available for the next ten years.

Sarah Boyack: Air freight has grown from 45,445 tonnes in 1989 to 77,168 tonnes in 1999, an increase of 69.8%. Information on category types and projections is not collected centrally.

Amnesic Shellfish Poisoning

Fergus Ewing (Inverness East, Nairn and Lochaber) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what the precise objections of the Health Department’s Reference Laboratory Group were to the evidence it received regarding the proposed method of tiered testing of scallops and the public health implications of such a method; what further work is necessary on this evidence; by what date this work must be completed, and whether this work will be made publicly available.

Susan Deacon: The Food Standards Agency has advised me that the EU Amnesic Shellfish Poisoning Working Group requested further information on the variation of toxin levels in individual parts of the scallop. A second, more detailed scientific report addressing this issue has been prepared and will be scrutinised by the working group in early April. The reports were prepared for the EU Working Group and they will decide on the circulation.

  Additionally, work is being progressed by the agency to ensure a rigorous enforcement regime and an adequate monitoring programme can be developed which will guarantee consumer safety should a tiered approach be acceptable in scientific terms.

Asylum Seekers

Shona Robison (North-East Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what progress has been made on its review of the impact of the Immigration and Asylum Act as referred to by the Deputy Minister for Community Care on 9 February 2000 ( Official Report , col. 910); what format the review is taking, and what steps are being taken to gather evidence on an ongoing basis to inform the review of the impact of the Act in Scotland.

Malcolm Chisholm: The review of operation of the Immigration and Asylum Act 1999 will take place around 18 months after it came into operation in Scotland. As the Act came into operation in April 2000, the review will not be undertaken until October 2001. Decisions about the format of the review will be taken nearer the time.

  The Scottish Asylum Seekers Consortium manages and monitors the commissioning and provision of housing and other services for asylum seekers. The Scottish Executive will ensure that the consortium is involved in the review.

Autism

Mrs Margaret Ewing (Moray) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S1W-10141 by Susan Deacon on 24 October 2000, whether there are any publicly funded studies, either on a Scottish or a UK basis, being undertaken to record the level of incidence of autism since 1980.

Malcolm Chisholm: Within the Scottish Executive Health Department, the Chief Scientist Office (CSO) has responsibility for encouraging and supporting research to improve both the health of the people in Scotland and the services provided by the NHS. CSO is aware of 166 UK studies on autism which are either ongoing or have been completed within the last seven years. 12 of these are Scottish studies. Whereas most do not appear to be specifically on the incidence of autism, incidence is likely to feature in a number of them. Details of the projects are available on the National Research Register (NRR), a copy of which is in the Parliament’s Reference Centre.

  CSO is aware of a further two recently published studies which have recorded the level of incidence of autism in at least a part of the population during some period since 1980 during investigations to determine whether the measles, mumps and rubella (MMR) vaccine could be causally associated with autism. A report of one study appeared in The Lancet, Volume 353, Number 9169, 12 June 1999, and a report of the other appeared in the British Medical Journal, Volume 322, 17 February 2001. Neither study found a causal association between the MMR vaccine and autism.

  The main agency through which the UK Government supports medical and clinical research is the Medical Research Council (MRC) which has committed £6.4 million to ongoing or recently completed autism research, £351,000 of which funds the major autism study to which you referred in question S1W-10141. Autism remains a strategic priority for the MRC, which continues to welcome research proposals in this area. CSO too would welcome innovative research proposals on autism.

Autism

Mrs Margaret Ewing (Moray) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S1W-10423 by Mr Sam Galbraith on 30 October 2000, what contact it has had with Her Majesty’s Government seeking information about the principles, methods and effectiveness of the Higashi school for autistic children in Boston, USA.

Nicol Stephen: No formal discussions have taken place. The Executive, however, has obtained a copy of the DfEE Research Report No 77, Educational Interventions for Children with Autism: A Literature Review of Recent and Current Research , which recorded studies completed at the Higashi School. A copy will be placed in the Parliament’s Reference Centre.

BSE

Fergus Ewing (Inverness East, Nairn and Lochaber) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will order an inquiry into the circumstances of how parts of a calf whose mother was infected by BSE may have found their way into the human food chain and, if so, who will be involved in this inquiry.

Susan Deacon: Where possible animals identified as offspring of BSE cases are traced and removed from the human food chain. Officials of the Food Standards Agency, the Scottish Executive and the Ministry of Agriculture are jointly considering whether, in this particular case, the offspring could have been removed at an earlier stage.

Child Protection

Mr Gil Paterson (Central Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it has had, or plans to have, meetings with any Internet service providers or web hosting services to discuss guidelines for the protection of children using such services.

Nicol Stephen: Not at present. The Scottish Executive has issued an information pack "ClickThinking – Personal Safety on the Internet" to all Scottish schools and to a wide range of other bodies dealing with children. The pack gives guidance to children and young people, their parents or carers, teachers and others who work with young people on using the Internet in a safe and informed way; and includes a set of resources for schools and families. The pack can be found on the Internet at:

  www.scotland.gov.uk/clickthinking.

Community Care

Christine Grahame (South of Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what current funding is currently provided for day care centres, broken down by local authority.

Malcolm Chisholm: It is for local authorities to decide how much should be spent on day care provision. The table indicates how much local authorities plan to spend on day care provision for the elderly and adults with physical and learning disabilities in 2000-01.

  Net Expenditure on Day Care 2000-01 (£ million)

  





Budget Estimate Net Expenditure on Day Care1




Aberdeen City 
  

 3.7 
  



Aberdeenshire 
  

 4.7 
  



Angus 
  

 2.9 
  



Argyll & Bute 
  

 2.1 
  



Clackmannanshire 
  

 1.3 
  



Dumfries & Galloway 
  

 2.3 
  



Dundee City 
  

 3.6 
  



East Ayrshire 
  

 1.2 
  



East Dunbartonshire 
  

 1.3 
  



East Lothian 
  

 1.9 
  



East Renfrewshire 
  

 2.2 
  



Edinburgh City 
  

 12.0 
  



Eilean Siar 
  

 0.4 
  



Falkirk 
  

 2.6 
  



Fife 
  

 6.7 
  



Glasgow City 
  

 17.4 
  



Highland 
  

 3.6 
  



Inverclyde 
  

 1.7 
  



Midlothian 
  

 1.7 
  



Moray 
  

 2.4 
  



North Ayrshire 
  

 1.2 
  



North Lanarkshire 
  

 15.5 
  



Orkney 
  

 0.5 
  



Perth & Kinross 
  

 3.5 
  



Renfrewshire 
  

 4.8 
  



Scottish Borders 
  

 2.1 
  



Shetland 
  

 0.5 
  



South Ayrshire 
  

 1.0 
  



South Lanarkshire 
  

 5.9 
  



Stirling 
  

 1.1 
  



West Dunbartonshire 
  

 1.9 
  



West Lothian 
  

 3.9 
  



Scotland 
  

 117.5 
  



  Notes:

  1. Figures reported by local authorities on Provisional Outturn & Budget Estimates return (POBE). Figures include day care for the elderly and adults with physical and learning disabilities only. Day care for other client groups is not separately identifiable.

Crime

Maureen Macmillan (Highlands and Islands) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what steps it proposes to take to strengthen the existing provisions on the confiscation and recovery of the proceeds of crime.

Mr Jim Wallace: The UK Government and the Scottish Executive are today issuing proposals to unify the powers of criminal confiscation, create new powers of civil recovery, strengthen existing money laundering powers, and introduce new arrangements to enable tax to be levied on income believed to derive from criminal activity. We are inviting comments from a wide range of interests. The consultation period closes on 25 May.

  Many of these proposals are reserved - for example, confiscation of the proceeds of drug trafficking, money laundering, and taxation - while others are devolved. We aim to strengthen public confidence in the justice system, undermine harmful role models and deprive criminals of working capital. We have taken the view that comprehensive UK legislation will be more workable and effective than complex, complementary legislation in both Parliaments, and will avoid loopholes that could create of safe havens for criminals either side of the Border.

  The Bill will contain separate Scottish clauses to ensure that the new powers are fully consistent with Scots law and procedures.

  We will, of course, be seeking the agreement of the Scottish Parliament in due course.

Dental Care

Richard Lochhead (North-East Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what its strategy is to improve general professional training opportunities for newly qualified dental graduates in Grampian.

Susan Deacon: The Scottish Executive, through the Scottish Council for Postgraduate Medical and Dental Education (SCPMDE), aims to provide General Professional Training (GPT) opportunities for dental graduates in Scotland. Two-year GPT is widely recognised as being beneficial, and Scotland is in the lead on its introduction. The Dental Action Plan includes a recommendation to develop GPT more widely and the aim is to expand the number of GPT places steadily. It is planned that Grampian will be included in the next round of new GPT places.

Dental Care

Mary Scanlon (Highlands and Islands) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S1W-10786 by Susan Deacon on 14 November 2000, when it will announce the allocation to Dundee and Glasgow Dental Schools of the additional resources required to fund the increased education and training of dental practitioners and other professions related to dentistry referred to in An Action Plan for Dental Services in Scotland and Workforce Planning for Dentistry in Scotland: A Strategic Review: Interim Report and Recommendations .

Malcolm Chisholm: The Additional Cost of Teaching (Dental) allocations to Dundee and Glasgow Dental Schools are negotiated annually. The allocations for 2000-01 increased by 5% for both dental schools, well above the rate of inflation, representing a significant increase in real terms. This increase in funding will allow the Dental Schools to ensure the further development of improvements in the teaching of dental students. Negotiations on funding for the expansion of the Professions Complementary to Dentistry detailed in the Action Plan for Dental Services are currently ongoing with the three main dental teaching institutions.

Drug Education

Alex Neil (Central Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive how many (a) primary and (b) secondary schools have anti-drug education policies.

Nicol Stephen: The 1999-2000 survey of drug education in schools produced the following results for primary and secondary schools:

  


Type of school 
  

No. of schools1 included in survey 
  

No. of schools responding to survey 
  

No. of schools responding who said they 
  did provide drug education 
  



Local Authority Schools 
  



Primary 
  

2,293 
  

2,185 
  

2,107 
  



Secondary 
  

389 
  

376 
  

376 
  



Special 
  

185 
  

161 
  

117 
  



Independent, Grant Aided and Opted Out2 
  Schools 
  



Primary 
  

73 
  

55 
  

44 
  



Secondary 
  

63 
  

49 
  

49 
  



Special 
  

41 
  

32 
  

27 
  



All Schools 
  



Primary 
  

2,366 
  

2,240 
  

2,151 
  



Secondary 
  

452 
  

425 
  

425 
  



Special 
  

226 
  

193 
  

144 
  



  Notes:

  1. Schools which have both a primary and a secondary department have been counted under both categories for the purposes of this survey.

  2. There are no opted out secondary or special schools.

  Full details of the survey were published on 26 July.

Drug Misuse

Fiona McLeod (West of Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answers to questions S1W-8839 and S1W-8840 by Angus MacKay on 7 September 2000, what action it is taking to ensure that all 22 drug action teams, including those who have not referred to the issue in their corporate action plans, are fulfilling their remits in addressing volatile substance abuse at a local level.

Iain Gray: The Executive will seek to ensure that all Drug Action Teams (DATs) address volatile substance abuse through this year’s reporting arrangements.

  Any issues of concern about action on volatile substance abuse will be taken up with the relevant DAT.

Drug Misuse

Dr Elaine Murray (Dumfries) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it is aware of the Detox-5 treatment for heroin addiction and what guidance it provides to health boards regarding the prescription and funding of this treatment programme.

Iain Gray: The Executive is indeed aware of the Detox-5 treatment for heroin addiction which, I understand, is being used by drug problem services in Lothian and Grampian. It is open to health boards to commission local NHS services to meet a particular purpose, if such a service is cost-effective. Guidance, intended primarily for doctors but disseminated widely, was given in the 1999 publication Drug Misuse and Dependence - Guidelines on Clinical Management , to which the then Scottish Office Department of Health contributed. The guidelines recognised the use of Naltrexone, on which Detox-5 is based, but concluded that the effectiveness and safety of rapid detoxification treatment methods had not yet been established.

  We will learn more about the longer-term effectiveness and cost-effectiveness of different treatments from the five-year outcomes research study commissioned by the Robertson Trust from the Centre for Drugs Misuse Research at Glasgow University. The Scottish Executive has appointed an advisory group drawn from clinicians, social work, community care and drug action teams to support this study. The Executive has also set up the new Effective Interventions Unit to examine and promote best practice in the management of the treatment of drug misusers.

Drug Misuse

Mr Keith Raffan (Mid Scotland and Fife) (LD): To ask the Scottish Executive how much money was spent on the treatment and rehabilitation of drug users in each year since 1990 and how much has been allocated for those future years for which figures are available.

Iain Gray: The following table details the resources allocated to health boards for drug treatment services since 1994-95:

  


Financial Year 
  

£000 
  



1994-95 
  

2.535 
  



1995-96 
  

8.182 
  



1996-97 
  

9.182 
  



1997-98 
  

9.946 
  



1998-99 
  

9.862 
  



1999-2000 
  

11.862 
  



2000-01 
  

11.862 
  



2001-02 
  

13.352 
  



  A further £10 million for treatment services and £21 million for rehabilitation will be allocated to health boards and local authorities over the next three years. The funding is part of a £100 million package of additional resources from the 2000 Spending Review, which was announced in September.

Education

Irene McGugan (North-East Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will give details of any monitoring of the effect of admission to school at an early age on the performance of children at age 16 in examinations.

Mr Jack McConnell: We do not undertake any monitoring in this area. We are, however, exploring the possibility of undertaking research in this and associated areas.

Education

Mr Brian Monteith (Mid Scotland and Fife) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive how many mathematics class hours have been taught by teachers who are not qualified to teach mathematics in each of the last four years in each local authority area.

Mr Jack McConnell: The information requested is not available. Information on teacher qualifications is gathered centrally from occasional teacher censuses. In the period requested such a census was only carried out in 1998. Data gathered from a census could be used to correlate qualifications held and class taken. It is not possible to extrapolate this information to produce a reliable annual figure as sporadic variations within the year such as absence cover will be excluded. Changes in personnel will also not be taken into account. Non-response to the census and data validation issues increase the unreliability of an annual estimate.

Enterprise

David Mundell (South of Scotland) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it has any mechanism in place to measure its intellectual capital.

Angus MacKay: The Scottish Executive does not have a mechanism in place that provides an overall measure of its intellectual capital. However, the Executive uses many of the measures of intellectual capital used by leading exponents of this discipline including employee satisfaction, qualifications and training undertaken by staff.

Enterprise

Mr Kenneth Gibson (Glasgow) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what steps it is taking, in partnership with Scottish Enterprise Glasgow, Glasgow City Council and developers, to ensure provision of (a) quality modern office space and (b) trained service sector office staff.

Ms Wendy Alexander: These issues are of prime concern to the Scottish Executive, Scottish Enterprise (SE) Glasgow and Glasgow City Council.

  In terms of provision of quality modern office space, tenant demand in the city centre is strong, with the vacancy rate at 5% and a good level of enquiries. Currently available stock amounts to around 20,000 square metres in three buildings. A further 22,000 square metres will come on the market during this year.

  There has, as a result, been an increase in investor interest in the city. At Pacific Quay, one of the city’s Strategic Sites, a developer has applied for planning permission for a speculative office development of 6,000 square metres while SE Glasgow has plans for 22,000 square metres of space at that location for digital media companies. On the north bank of the river, a developer has proposals to develop office accommodation on the former Daily Record site and is being encouraged to proceed by SE Glasgow and the City Council.

  At the junction of George Street and High Street, SE Glasgow has applied for planning permission to develop, in partnership with the private sector, a business park of some 50,000 square metres of space aimed at technology, software and science-based companies.

  With regards to steps that are being taken to ensure the provision of trained service sector office staff, this provision is being met through various Scottish Executive training schemes.

Enterprise

Mr Kenneth Gibson (Glasgow) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what steps it is taking, in partnership with Scottish Enterprise Glasgow, Glasgow City Council and developers, to address the anticipated shortages of "advanced factories", defined as of high quality and located in detached premises of between 929 and 5,574 square metres.

Ms Wendy Alexander: The provision of business space within the city of Glasgow is one of the key priorities of the City Council, Scottish Enterprise Glasgow (SEG) and the Glasgow Alliance, and a great deal of activity is being undertaken in this field.

  Current developments include:

  Proposals for developers to construct two advance factory units, one of 2,787 square metres and one of 4,645 square metres at Robroyston Business Park, to the north of the city.

  Proposals by developers for two speculative business units at Cardonald Park, one of 2,414 square metres the other of around 3,251 square metres.

  Discussions regarding the construction of a speculative unit extending to 929 square metres at the West of Scotland Science Park.

  The need to enhance the physical business infrastructure of the city has also been recognised by the Scottish Executive, which has recently allocated an additional £2 million to SEG specifically to support Glasgow’s Strategic Business and Industrial Sites Programme.

Europe

David Mundell (South of Scotland) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive what steps it has taken to ensure that the interests of rural areas such as Dumfries and Galloway are represented in Europe.

Mr Jack McConnell: Scottish interests in devolved matters including those of particular interest to Dumfries and Galloway, are fed by the Scottish Executive into the formulation of the UK line which is taken forward by the UK delegation at meetings with EU institutions and member states. Through these means for example, the whole of Dumfries and Galloway has secured eligibility for funding under Objective 2 and is able to participate in the Objective 3 programme of the European Structural Funds.

Europe

Alex Neil (Central Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive how many representatives it had in the UK delegation to the recent EU Inter-Governmental Conference in Nice.

Colin Campbell (West of Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive how many of its ministers or officials were at the Inter-Governmental Conference in Nice.

Mr Jack McConnell: Scottish ministers and officials were party to the formulation of the UK lines for the summit and, although not present at Nice, were able then to ensure that devolved interests were represented by the UK delegation. Scotland, of course, was represented by the whole UK delegation, who were very successful in achieving agreed objectives.

Fuel

Dr Sylvia Jackson (Stirling) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what progress has been made in promoting the use of liquid petroleum gas as a vehicle fuel.

Sarah Boyack: The Scottish Executive, through its funding of the Energy Saving Trust’s "Powershift" alternative vehicle fuel programme, promotes the use of LPG and other alternative fuels in Scotland. The Powershift budget in Scotland is under heavy pressure at the moment and therefore we will make additional funding available over the next three years to meet increasing demand.

Fuel Costs

Michael Russell (South of Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what impact the domestic fuel oil price rise of over 100% in the last 18 months has had on the health care of elderly and vulnerable people.

Jackie Baillie: The information is not available in the form requested.

Gaelic

Dr Sylvia Jackson (Stirling) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what funding is available to meet any increased demand for Gaelic-medium education and Gaelic-medium nursery education.

Mr Alasdair Morrison: The provision of Gaelic-medium education is the responsibility of the education authorities. The Scottish Executive provides specific grant for up to 75% of the cost of Gaelic-medium education. This provision will increase by £200,000 to £2.8 million in 2001-02. In addition, the Executive provides £0.3 million a year in specific grant for Gaelic-medium nursery education.

Health

Dorothy-Grace Elder (Glasgow) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what guidance is being given to individuals who are performing Continual Ambulatory Peritoneal Dialysis at home to ensure a sanitary and hygienic environment in their home.

Dorothy-Grace Elder (Glasgow) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what monitoring system is used to ensure that patients performing Continual Ambulatory Peritoneal Dialysis in their homes are able to adequately maintain the dialysis environment to the correct hygienic standards.

Susan Deacon: Each renal unit advises its patients on issues of hygiene and infection control related to Continuous Ambulatory Peritoneal Dialysis (CAPD). Patients and employers frequently invite CAPD staff to comment on the facilities required to perform hygienic peritoneal dialysis exchanges.

Health

Dorothy-Grace Elder (Glasgow) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what financial assistance is available to individuals performing Continual Ambulatory Peritoneal Dialysis in their homes to allow them to employ a cleaner to ensure maintenance of a hygienic environment.

Susan Deacon: The normal home environment is usually sufficiently hygienic, as the emphasis is on the cleanliness of the procedure itself. Where a patient on peritoneal dialysis is unable to maintain a sufficient standard of cleanliness within the home, the social worker attached to the renal unit will be able to advise on suitable assistance.

Health

Dorothy-Grace Elder (Glasgow) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what provisions are being made to assist those patients who live in the Forth Valley Health Board area, who currently attend the Western Renal Unit in Glasgow for the duration of their kidney disorders, who have been advised that, should they commence haemodialysis, they will now attend Falkirk three times a week and for whom Falkirk may be further away and harder to get to in winter weather.

Susan Deacon: The physical and practical demands of haemodialysis are significant and so the convenience of the patient is taken into account wherever possible. NHSScotland aims, with renal as with other services, to provide these as close to the patient’s home as is possible while maintaining safety and quality. It is a matter for Forth Valley Health Board and the Forth Valley Acute NHS Trust to organise services effectively for their local populations. This might include assessing services from within other health board areas where that is in the best interests of patients.

  With the haemodialysis spaces at Falkirk under considerable pressure, the unit would be likely to welcome the possibility of patients from Forth Valley attending a Glasgow hospital rather than Falkirk for their haemodialysis, provided that was more convenient for the patients concerned.

Health

Margaret Smith (Edinburgh West) (LD): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S1W-2687 by Susan Deacon on 25 January 2000, what recent steps have been taken to improve the diagnosis and management of patients with neurological illnesses.

Susan Deacon: Diagnosis and management of patients with neurological disease requires close collaboration between GPs, consultant neurologists and other health care professionals. Individual health professionals are expected to keep up to date with the latest advances. The recommendations of the recent Scottish Needs Assessment Programme (SNAP) report on multiple sclerosis are currently being evaluated to identify what action needs to be taken in Scotland.

  The Scottish Executive Health Department is encouraging the development of a major demonstration Managed Clinical Network for neurology services with particular reference to stroke. It has also been highlighting the value of Managed Clinical Networks in relation to services for patients with other neurological conditions such as epilepsy, and understands that clinicians themselves are keen to develop this approach.

  Neurology was one of the specialties looked at in detail by the Acute Services Review. The report of the review itself highlighted a partnership model for neurology services. That model envisaged Scotland’s four specialist neurology centres working with non-specialist hospitals to provide general neurological out-patient services and some specialist out-patient services at local district general hospitals.

Health

Margaret Smith (Edinburgh West) (LD): To ask the Scottish Executive what assessment it has made of the services available to patients with neurological illnesses.

Susan Deacon: Neurology was one of the specialties looked at in detail by the Acute Services Review. It concluded that in a specialty such as neurology, sensible restructuring, with proper integration with primary and community care, was desirable in order to achieve improvements in access while retaining high standards of care.

  The report of the review itself highlighted a partnership model for neurology services, under which Scotland’s four specialist neurology centres would work with non-specialist hospitals to provide general neurological out-patient services and some specialist out-patient services at local district general hospitals. The equivalent of one whole-time equivalent (WTE) consultant neurologist would need to be made available for each adult population of 120,000-150,000. The model would have the advantages of promoting outreach rather than centralisation, strengthening linkages between hospitals in a region and facilitating the integration of care. The report noted that the model would require 28 WTE consultant neurologists for it to be put in place. There are currently 34.7 WTE consultant neurologists in Scotland.

  A Scottish Needs Assessment Programme (SNAP) report on multiple sclerosis (MS) was published on 8 November 2000. The Executive welcomes this report, which will be commended to health boards as a basis for planning future services for people with MS, although treatment of individual patients must, of course, remain a matter for individual clinical judgement.

Health

Dorothy-Grace Elder (Glasgow) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive how health boards inform patients in their area about specific drugs and treatments when health boards have rejected the advice of the Health Technology Board for Scotland regarding these drugs and treatments.

Susan Deacon: Health boards make decisions about drugs and treatments that take account of local priorities. If a board does not accept the advice of the Health Technology Board for Scotland, the rationale for that decision will need to be clearly explained, under the provisions of Clinical Governance arrangements.

  Health boards would use their existing arrangements, for example Drugs and Therapeutics Committees, to advise clinicians of any such decisions and the clinicians concerned are best placed to ensure that their patients are informed of treatment options.

Health

Mary Scanlon (Highlands and Islands) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive what the membership is of the Lothian drug evaluation board.

Malcolm Chisholm: The members of the Lothian Drug Evaluation Panel are:

  Consultant in Public Health (Chair)

  Senior Lecturer in Health Economics

  Consultant Physician

  Senior Lecturer in Clinical Pharmacology and Therapeutics

  Director of Medicines Management

  Trust Drug Information Pharmacist

  2 Trust Chief Pharmacists

  2 General Practitioners

  Medicines Management Adviser (Primary Care)

  Assistant Director of Commissioning (Health Board)

  Lothian Formulary Pharmacist

Health

Dorothy-Grace Elder (Glasgow) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what resources it currently makes available into alternative therapy for the relief of chronic pain.

Susan Deacon: The Scottish Health Plan sets out clearly the need to develop national priorities and consistent standards across Scotland. Health boards will be required to demonstrate through new performance management arrangements that priorities and standards are being addressed. The Executive makes general allocations available to health boards based on need. It is then the responsibility of the board to reflect local priorities within the National Framework set out in the Health Plan.

Health

Nick Johnston (Mid Scotland and Fife) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive whether a register is held of patients who are prescribed benzodiazepines.

Malcolm Chisholm: No.

Health

Mr Keith Raffan (Mid Scotland and Fife) (LD): To ask the Scottish Executive what the current average waiting time is for an elderly patient in hospital to be assessed by social services and how this compares with the equivalent figure in each of the previous two years.

Susan Deacon: Information about average waiting times in hospital prior to social services assessments being completed is not collected centrally in the form requested.

  The census of patients ready for discharge in NHSScotland, which was published on 4 December 2000, showed that a significant number of those whose discharge from hospital was delayed were awaiting assessment.

  The Scottish Executive has emphasised in Our National Health: A plan for action, a plan for change its determination to reduce waiting at all stages of the patient’s journey through the health service, and to identify improved processes and share good practice across Scotland to reduce delays in discharging patients from hospital into more appropriate care.

Health Technology Board for Scotland

Robert Brown (Glasgow) (LD): To ask the Scottish Executive what arrangements are in place for co-operation between the Health Technology Board for Scotland and the National Institute for Clinical Excellence in England.

Susan Deacon: The Health Technology Board for Scotland (HTBS) and the National Institute for Clinical Excellence (NICE) have established a good collaborative relationship. This includes reciprocal "observer" status at board meetings.

  There are particularly strong links underpinning the choice of topics for assessment, with reciprocal involvement in each other’s processes that will aid the prioritisation of HTBS proposals. For topics on which HTBS and NICE both decide to perform a full assessment, they will collaborate to obtain one systematic review and critical appraisal that can be taken into each body’s assessment process to ensure local ownership. NICE and HTBS are also collaborating on methodological issues.

  The HTBS Director has been involved in symposia focusing on NICE work and she gave a presentation at the NICE annual conference in November.

Health Technology Board for Scotland

Robert Brown (Glasgow) (LD): To ask the Scottish Executive what plans it has to eliminate any duplication in work between the Health Technology Board for Scotland and the Drugs and Therapeutics Committees of health boards.

Susan Deacon: The Chief Medical Officer has had discussions with Professor David Lawson, Vice-President of the Royal College of Physicians in Edinburgh and a leading figure in UK therapeutics, to ask him to take forward work to promote consistency of advice across Scotland’s network of Area Drug and Therapeutics Committees (ADTCs).

  The work of ADTCs includes providing an evaluation of all new medicines at the point of marketing. This does not conflict with the work of the Health Technology Board for Scotland (HTBS). The HTBS’s remit is to perform high quality health technology assessments. These will normally require accrual of extra evidence, particularly in relation to resource usage. So, if deemed appropriate, the HTBS can build on the consortium evaluation at a later stage.

  The Health Technology Board for Scotland (HTBS) and ADTCs have a mutual interest in developing strategies for the evaluation of medicines and so HTBS assists and supports the work of the ADTCs. There has been close and regular dialogue between the board and the ADTCs to ensure that information and expertise is shared and work is not duplicated. Indeed, the HTBS Chairman and Director regularly attended meetings with representatives of the ADTCs. The board have also had discussions with Professor Lawson about his work and have offered secretarial and other support.

  The ADTCs will also provide advice to HTBS about choice of topics, consequences of introducing a technology to NHSScotland and promote local ownership. The HTBS can provide expert methodological advice to the ADTCs and broader advice about international developments. Their relationship is thus seen as complementary and not conflicting.

Hospitals

Nicola Sturgeon (Glasgow) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it collates centrally from health boards information on the number of cases reported of (a) hospital-acquired infection and (b) methicillin resistant Staphylococcus aureus ; if so, how many cases of each were reported in each of the last five years and this year to date, broken down by health board and, if not, what the reasons are for its position and whether it has any plans to collate such information centrally in the future or whether anyone else collates the information requested centrally.

Susan Deacon: Plans to collect and collate information centrally on the number of cases of hospital-acquired infection are currently being finalised. For methicillin resistant Staphylococcus aureus , the Scottish Centre for Infection and Environmental Health monitors the number of laboratory isolates – which gives an indication of the scale of the problem and overall trends. This information for the last five years is set out in the following table, broken down by health board. The upward trend most probably reflects both an increase in the actual rate of infection, and in the proportion of infections reported, and is in line with those trends seen elsewhere in the UK and in Europe. In a few cases more than one isolate can be obtained from one patient.

  


Report Year 
  

AC 
  

AA 
  

BR 
  

DG 
  

FF 
  

FV 
  

GG 
  

GR 
  

HG 
  

LN 
  

LO 
  

OR 
  

SH 
  

TY 
  

WI 
  

Sc 
  



1996 
  

6 
  

5 
  

0 
  

2 
  

23 
  

0 
  

27 
  

1 
  

0 
  

4 
  

4 
  

0 
  

0 
  

3 
  

0 
  

75 
  



1997 
  

6 
  

5 
  

4 
  

2 
  

26 
  

17 
  

52 
  

15 
  

1 
  

36 
  

34 
  

0 
  

0 
  

8 
  

0 
  

206 
  



1998 
  

8 
  

17 
  

4 
  

9 
  

44 
  

28 
  

104 
  

28 
  

4 
  

54 
  

76 
  

0 
  

0 
  

27 
  

0 
  

403 
  



1999 
  

14 
  

19 
  

10 
  

7 
  

62 
  

28 
  

171 
  

51 
  

7 
  

65 
  

91 
  

0 
  

0 
  

51 
  

0 
  

576 
  



2000* 
  

21 
  

45 
  

13 
  

17 
  

62 
  

39 
  

149 
  

64 
  

25 
  

54 
  

148 
  

2 
  

0 
  

54 
  

1 
  

694 
  



  *Figures for 2000 are provisional.

  Source: SCIEH.

  Date: 29.01.2001

  Key:

  


AC 
  

Argyll & Clyde 
  

FV 
  

Forth Valley 
  

LO 
  

Lothian 
  



AA 
  

Ayrshire & Arran 
  

GG 
  

Greater Glasgow 
  

OR 
  

Orkney 
  



BR 
  

Borders 
  

GR 
  

Grampian 
  

SH 
  

Shetland 
  



DG 
  

Dumfries & Galloway 
  

HG 
  

Highland 
  

TY 
  

Tayside 
  



FF 
  

Fife 
  

LN 
  

Lanarkshire 
  

WI 
  

Western Isles

Hospitals

Mary Scanlon (Highlands and Islands) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive whether there is an advisory group responsible for monitoring hospital-acquired infections and, if so, when it will make any recommendations.

Mr Andrew Welsh (Angus) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what measures have been taken to improve the surveillance of hospital-acquired infections.

Susan Deacon: Tackling hospital-acquired infection (HAI) is an important priority for the NHS in Scotland, and effective surveillance of HAI is a key part of this agenda. A sub-group of the Health Department’s Advisory Group on Infection has been developing plans for a national surveillance system for HAI in Scotland. The group has been asked to provide recommendations to the Scottish Executive Health Department by the end of March. Once their report is received, I will be considering what further steps need to be taken to improve surveillance of HAI across Scotland.

Hospitals

Mr Andrew Welsh (Angus) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive how many deaths result from hospital-acquired infections each year, what proportion of the total number of cases of hospital-acquired infections this represents and what the total annual cost to the NHSiS is of dealing with hospital-acquired infections.

Malcolm Chisholm: Information about deaths resulting from hospital-acquired infections (HAI) is not available, as HAI is not a notifiable cause of death.

  A broad estimate of the incidence, impact and cost of HAI in Scotland, prepared by the Health Department in 1999, suggested that there might be approximately 69,000 cases annually in Scottish hospitals.

  This work also indicated that a central estimate of the annual cost of HAI to the NHS would be approximately £21.6 million, and that the cost of avoidable HAI cases would be approximately £3.9 million. These estimates, which are subject to substantial uncertainty, do not include the health care costs of treating HAI cases outside hospitals, or costs incurred outside the health service.

  More information about the incidence and costs of HAI is expected to become available from the planned national surveillance system, once it is introduced.

Hospitals

Mr Kenneth Gibson (Glasgow) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what discussions it is having with health boards and NHSiS Trusts to reduce the incidence of infection by methicillin resistant Staphylococcus aureus .

Malcolm Chisholm: Preventing and controlling hospital-acquired infection (HAI), including infections attributable to methicillin resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA), is a key priority for the NHS in Scotland. The Scottish Health Plan, Our National Health: A plan for action, a plan for change,  published on 14 December, makes clear that every local healthcare system will be expected to combat HAI by achieving service standards to be established by the Clinical Standards Board for Scotland on infection control, cleanliness, and other matters. To assist this process, the Advisory Group on Infection is developing, in consultation with the NHS in Scotland, recommendations for a system of surveillance of HAI. This will collect data to allow trends to be monitored and remedial action to be targeted effectively.

  As part of the drive to combat antimicrobial resistance, the Executive launched a national public education campaign in December 1999, which aimed to increase public awareness of the problem and to help health professionals reduce the prescribing of antibiotics where other approaches were available.

  The Executive also issued for consultation last August a three-year action plan for Scotland, which was linked to the UK Antimicrobial Resistance Strategy and set out a framework for minimising the development of antimicrobial resistance, including MRSA, and maintaining the effectiveness of antimicrobial agents in the treatment and prevention of microbial infections in humans and animals. Consultees included health boards and NHS Trusts. The implementation of the strategy and the action plan for Scotland is being overseen and reviewed by the Antimicrobial Resistance Strategy Steering Group, a multi-disciplinary group, which brings together experts from the fields of animal and human health as well as from the Executive. In line with commitments to keep the action plan under review, the plan is currently being updated and modified to take account of the results of the consultation and other developments.

Hospitals

Mr Kenneth Gibson (Glasgow) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what steps it is taking to ensure that laboratories use consistent reporting criteria and definitions of infections with regard to methicillin resistant Staphylococcus aureus .

Susan Deacon: A sub-group of the Health Department’s Advisory Group on Infection is currently working up proposals for a national surveillance system for hospital-acquired infection, including methicillin resistant Staphylococcus aureus . The group is considering what standard criteria and definitions should be used by laboratories in Scotland, so that consistent and meaningful data are collected in the most effective way.

Hospitals

George Lyon (Argyll and Bute) (LD): To ask the Scottish Executive what the current ratio of doctors per 100 beds in NHS hospitals is in each health board area.

Susan Deacon: The data available centrally does not allow a robust comparison of the staffing levels per bed in each health board area. Given the variation in health needs and health care in each area, it is in any case doubtful that such ratios would provide meaningful comparisons.

Housing

Richard Lochhead (North-East Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what measures are available so that tenants of private property who are a nuisance to their neighbours can be evicted.

Jackie Baillie: Under the Housing (Scotland) Act 1988, private landlords can apply to the courts for possession of their property where the tenant, or anyone living with the tenant, has caused a nuisance or annoyance to neighbours or has been convicted by a court of immoral or illegal use of the premises. This is a discretionary ground and the sheriff will only grant the landlord possession if he believes it is reasonable to do so. To complement this legislation, the Crime and Disorder Act 1998 brought in extended grounds for eviction which allows landlords to repossess a house where criminal conduct has been committed or where anti-social behaviour has been committed or is likely to be committed, either in the locality of the tenanted property by the tenant, or someone residing or lodging with him, or by visitors to the property.

  In addition to these legislative measures, we are considering ways to encourage sociable neighbourhood initiatives and are evaluating existing initiatives to see if they should be replicated elsewhere. We have also commissioned the Chartered Institute of Housing in Scotland to produce a think piece on how to tackle the problems of anti-social behaviour in the private sector.

Land Reform

Dr Elaine Murray (Dumfries) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what further progress has been made in implementing the Land Reform Action Plan published in August 1999.

Mr Jim Wallace: I am pleased to announce that the latest progress report of action to implement our wide-ranging Land Reform Action Plan is published today. All MSPs are receiving copies, and the report is also available on the Scottish Executive website and in the Parliament’s Reference Centre.

  Members should note that, since the last progress report:

  - legislation to reform leasehold casualties received Stage 1 approval on 10 January 2001 and Stage 2 was passed on 14 February 2001;

  - the draft Land Reform (Scotland) Bill and the draft Scottish Outdoor Access Code were issued for consultation on 22 February 2001;

  - the Scottish Land Fund was launched on 26 February 2001.

Learning Disabilities

Michael Matheson (Central Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what progress is being made in implementing the recommendations in The same as you? A review of services for people with learning disabilities .

Malcolm Chisholm: Nationally, I am pleased to say that on 18 October we invited applications to establish the new Scottish Centre for Learning Disabilities. We are also analysing the responses to the consultation on the report, and will support implementation in whatever ways we feel are appropriate.

  Locally, agencies are acting on the report’s suggestion that better outcomes are possible by making better use of existing resources.

Learning Disabilities

Mr Duncan Hamilton (Highlands and Islands) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what implications the ruling by the House of Lords on 27 July 2000 (Phelps (AP) v Mayor etc of the London Borough of Hillingdon Anderton (AP) (By Her Mother and Next Friend) v Clwyd County Council In Re G (AP) (A Minor) (By His Next Friend) Jarvis (AP) v Hampshire County Council) regarding the legal duty of care for children with learning disabilities will have on local authorities and what action has been taken to ensure that such cases do not arise in Scotland.

Mr Jack McConnell: The Scottish Executive is aware of the House of Lords ruling on 27 July 2000 regarding the legal duty of care for children with learning disabilities. This is a very complex issue and we are considering the implications of the ruling carefully.

  The Executive is already taking forward a Special Educational Needs Programme of Action to support education authorities in meeting their statutory duty to secure adequate and efficient educational provision and to develop each child to his or her full potential. The programme includes provision to local authorities of over £5 million per year for the development and training of classroom-based staff and trainee educational psychologists working with children with special educational needs, including those with dyslexia.

Local Government

David Mundell (South of Scotland) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S1W-10567 by Mr Jack McConnell on 27 November 2000, what formal relationships it has or intends to establish with local or regional government bodies in the north of England for the purpose of identifying issues of common interest between Scotland and the North of England.

Mr Jack McConnell: As stated in my answer to question S1W-10567 on 27 November, the Scottish Executive is in regular contact with the Government Offices in the North-East and North-West on issues of common interest. Local authorities in the south of Scotland are best placed to develop relationships with their counterpart authorities south of the border on issues of common interest.

MMR Vaccine

Mr Lloyd Quinan (West of Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what its policy is on the administering of single dose vaccinations for measles, mumps and rubella and whether it has any plans to offer parents an option to have single dose vaccinations for their children.

Malcolm Chisholm: The vaccination policy of all UK Health Departments for immunisation against mumps, measles and rubella is to use the combined MMR vaccine. This policy is based on independent expert advice from the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation and the Committee on Safety of Medicines.

  MMR is considered the safest and most effective way to immunise against three serious and potentially fatal infections and, for this and other reasons, the Medicines Control Agency has restricted the import of the single vaccine components. There are no plans to offer these as an alternative to MMR.

Mental Health

Mary Scanlon (Highlands and Islands) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive how it will ensure that local authorities fund home care packages for the mentally ill so that no patient is subject to unnecessary restrictions on his or her liberty.

Malcolm Chisholm: The support arrangements for those to be discharged from NHS continuing care should reflect all the needs of the individual.   A framework is in place that encourages and facilitates health boards, local authorities and others to participate in joint planning and purchasing of care services.

  The funding of care packages for individuals in the community is a matter for the local agencies. Local authorities have a statutory responsibility to provide appropriate social care and are planning to spend £42 million this year on services for people with mental health problems, a 15% increase on plans for last year. Health boards are planning to spend £495 million, a 4% increase on last year. Since June an additional £34 million has been released to assist in ensuring appropriate care arrangements are in place to allow people to be discharged from hospital and to avoid the need for admission to hospital.

Multiple Sclerosis

Tricia Marwick (Mid Scotland and Fife) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the Scottish Needs Assessment Programme report on multiple sclerosis (MS), whether health boards will be required to provide a common minimum standard of service provision for MS sufferers.

Susan Deacon: There are no current plans to do so. Given the clinical spectrum in MS, each case requires to be considered individually. Care and services should be provided which reflect the individual needs of the patient.

Multiple Sclerosis

Tricia Marwick (Mid Scotland and Fife) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive how many specialist multiple sclerosis nurses are employed in each health board area.

Susan Deacon: There are currently seven nurses designated as specialist multiple sclerosis nurses, two in Lothian and one each in Glasgow, Ayrshire, Fife, Dundee and Aberdeen.

Multiple Sclerosis

Tricia Marwick (Mid Scotland and Fife) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the Scottish Needs Assessment Programme report on multiple sclerosis (MS), whether it will carry out a national audit of service provision for MS sufferers.

Susan Deacon: There are no plans for such an audit in addition to the work already carried out by the Scottish Needs Assessment Programme (SNAP), but the Executive is committed to working towards improving services for people with chronic enduring conditions like multiple sclerosis.

Multiple Sclerosis

Tricia Marwick (Mid Scotland and Fife) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the Scottish Needs Assessment Programme report on multiple sclerosis (MS), what systems it will develop for the production and dissemination of information to support sufferers of MS and their families and carers, and how it will evaluate these systems.

Susan Deacon: As announced in Our National Health: A plan for action, a plan for change , the Executive will be investing £14 million over three years to build the capacity of the NHS to communicate with, listen to and work in partnership with individuals and communities. Part of this will be a systematic assessment of patient information across Scotland, which will identify and disseminate best practice and will provide a national source of patient information and advice. This initiative will benefit all NHS users, including people with MS.

Multiple Sclerosis

Tricia Marwick (Mid Scotland and Fife) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the Scottish Needs Assessment Programme report on multiple sclerosis (MS), what studies and evaluation will be done to assess the best form of delivering rehabilitation services to MS sufferers.

Susan Deacon: The Executive would expect health boards to keep the delivery of rehabilitation services, which benefit people with many other conditions as well as MS sufferers, under continuous review, taking into account Scottish Needs Assessment Programme (SNAP) reports and any other guidance relating to specific conditions.

Multiple Sclerosis

Tricia Marwick (Mid Scotland and Fife) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive whether existing service provision allows rapid referral of suspected cases of multiple sclerosis.

Susan Deacon: According to the Scottish Needs Assessment Programme report on multiple sclerosis published on 8 November 2000, the ideal service provisions for people with multiple sclerosis, which include rapid referral for diagnosis, are not being met across Scotland. As promised in Our National Health: A plan for action, a plan for change , the Scottish Executive and the NHS will work closely with patient support groups to ensure that the needs of those with chronic enduring conditions like MS are met.

Multiple Sclerosis

Tricia Marwick (Mid Scotland and Fife) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S1W-2384 by Susan Deacon on 19 November 1999, whether it will establish the number of multiple sclerosis sufferers in each health board area to enable resources to be matched to need.

Susan Deacon: The Scottish Needs Assessment Programme (SNAP) report estimates that there are at present in Scotland some 10,400 people suffering from multiple sclerosis (MS). There are no plans to launch a national survey to establish the number of cases at health board level.

  Health boards are expected to meet the health needs of people with MS in their areas from the funds made available to them by the Executive, based on their assessment of local needs.

Multiple Sclerosis

Tricia Marwick (Mid Scotland and Fife) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the Scottish Needs Assessment Programme report on multiple sclerosis (MS), whether it has advised health boards to review and evaluate care provision for MS sufferers and to quantify and review prescription of beta interferon for them.

Susan Deacon: The Executive would expect health boards to keep the care and services provided for MS sufferers under continuous review, taking into account the Scottish Needs Assessment Programme (SNAP) report and any other guidance.

  Before the publication of the SNAP report I had asked the Health Technology Board (HTBS) for Scotland to review the prescription of beta interferon in Scotland, taking into consideration the work of the National Institute for Clinical Excellence on this subject. The Executive will not be approaching health boards about beta interferon until the HTBS review is complete.

NHS Equipment

Richard Lochhead (North-East Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will list the names and titles of the NHS clinicians consulted in connection with the £30 million announced in July for the replacement of medical equipment.

Susan Deacon: The composition of the working group set up to determine the distribution of the additional £30 million that I announced earlier this year for investment in medical equipment was as follows:

  


Sir D Carter (Chairperson) 
  

Chief Medical Officer 
  

The Scottish Executive 
  



Dr J Reid 
  

Consultant Radiologist 
  

Borders General Hospital NHS Trust 
  



Professor D Hadley 
  

Consultant Radiologist 
  

South Glasgow University Hospitals NHS Trust 
  



Dr H Burns 
  

Director of Public Health 
  

Greater Glasgow Health Board 
  



Dr F Gilbert 
  

Professor in Academic Radiology 
  

Grampian University Hospitals NHS Trust 
  



Professor D Harrison 
  

Consultant Histopathologist 
  

Lothian University Hospitals NHS Trust 
  



Professor O Garden 
  

Regius Professor of Clinical Surgery 
  

Lothian University Hospitals NHS Trust 
  



Professor A Lorimer 
  

Consultant Cardiologist 
  

North Glasgow University Hospitals NHS Trust 
  



Dr D Old 
  

Consultant Medical Scientist 
  

Tayside University Hospitals NHS Trust 
  



Mr T Cavanagh 
  

Laboratory Manager 
  

North Glasgow University Hospitals NHS Trust 
  



Dr G Houston 
  

Consultant Radiologist 
  

Tayside University Hospitals NHS Trust 
  



Dr J Browning 
  

Medical Director 
  

Lanarkshire Acute Hospitals NHS Trust 
  



Mr T Jones 
  

Chief Executive 
  

Lothian Health Board 
  



Mr S Atherton 
  

Director 
  

Scottish Healthcare Supplies 
  



Mr D Palmer 
  

Deputy Director of Finance 
  

The Scottish Executive 
  



Mr C Knox 
  

Director, IT Strategy 
  

The Scottish Executive

NHS Equipment

Richard Lochhead (North-East Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive whether the £30 million announced in July for the replacement of medical equipment was accompanied by additional revenue funding that could be used for the hiring of additional staff to help fully utilise any new equipment purchased.

Susan Deacon: No. It is for individual health boards and NHS Trusts to meet the revenue consequences of the new medical equipment from within existing resources.

  Health board unified budgets increased by an average of 7.2% in 2000-01 and will increase by an average of 6.5% in 2001-02.

NHS Funding

Lord James Douglas-Hamilton (Lothians) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive what the surplus was of each former NHS Trust at the time when each such Trust was wound up.

Susan Deacon: The table provides the retained surplus/(deficit) position of each of the former Trusts as at 31 March 1999. The figures have been taken from the Annual Accounts of each Trust and provided the basis for the Summarised Account of the NHS Trusts in Scotland 1998-99.

  


Name of Trust 
  

Retained Surplus/(deficit)
(£000) 
  



Aberdeen Royal Hospitals NHS Trust 
  

2,639 
  



Angus NHS Trust 
  

1,904 
  



Argyll & Bute NHS Trust 
  

(1,112) 
  



Ayrshire & Arran Community Healthcare NHS Trust 
  

2,024 
  



Borders Community Health Services NHS Trust 
  

677 
  



Borders General Hospital NHS Trust 
  

315 
  



Caithness and Sutherland NHS Trust 
  

1,115 
  



Central Scotland Healthcare NHS Trust 
  

(430) 
  



Dumfries & Galloway Acute & Maternity Hospitals 
  NHS Trust 
  

1,993 
  



Dumfries & Galloway Community Health NHS Trust 
  

514 
  



Dundee Healthcare NHS Trust 
  

60 
  



Dundee Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust 
  

3,460 
  



East & Midlothian NHS Trust 
  

2,499 
  



Edinburgh Healthcare NHS Trust 
  

8,309 
  



Edinburgh Sick Children’s NHS Trust 
  

756 
  



Falkirk & District Royal Infirmary NHS Trust 
  

625 
  



Fife Healthcare NHS Trust 
  

1,300 
  



Glasgow Dental Hospital and School NHS Trust 
  

316 
  



Glasgow Royal Infirmary University NHS Trust 
  

2,926 
  



Grampian Healthcare NHS Trust 
  

8,626 
  



Greater Glasgow Community & Mental Health Services 
  NHS Trust 
  

(5,111) 
  



Hairmyres & Stonehouse Hospitals NHS Trust 
  

373 
  



Highland Communities NHS Trust 
  

(14,026) 
  



Inverclyde Royal NHS Trust 
  

2,305 
  



Kirkcaldy Acute Hospitals NHS Trust 
  

2,122 
  



Lanarkshire Healthcare NHS Trust 
  

1,578 
  



Law Hospital NHS Trust 
  

668 
  



Lomond Healthcare NHS Trust 
  

802 
  



Monklands & Bellshill Hospitals NHS Trust 
  

4,330 
  



Moray Health Services NHS Trust 
  

482 
  



North Ayrshire & Arran NHS Trust 
  

6,048 
  



Perth & Kinross Healthcare NHS Trust 
  

2,442 
  



Queen Margaret Hospital NHS Trust 
  

1,802 
  



Raigmore Hospital NHS Trust 
  

2,688 
  



Renfrewshire Healthcare NHS Trust 
  

1,193 
  



Royal Alexandra Hospital NHS Trust 
  

2,813 
  



Royal Infirmary of Edinburgh NHS Trust 
  

1,263 
  



Scottish Ambulance Service NHS Trust 
  

645 
  



South Ayrshire Hospitals NHS Trust 
  

1,344 
  



Southern General Hospital NHS Trust 
  

2,877 
  



Stirling Royal Infirmary NHS Trust 
  

2,051 
  



Stobhill NHS Trust 
  

(1,272) 
  



Victoria Infirmary NHS Trust 
  

192 
  



West Glasgow Hospitals University NHS Trust 
  

820 
  



West Lothian NHS Trust 
  

2,438 
  



Western General Hospitals NHS Trust 
  

393 
  



Yorkhill NHS Trust 
  

1,640 
  



Total NHS Trusts in Scotland as at 31 March 1999 
  

61,416

NHS Funding

Lord James Douglas-Hamilton (Lothians) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive how much money there has been in the bank accounts of former NHS Trusts since they were wound up; when any such funds were frozen, and why any such accounts were frozen.

Lord James Douglas-Hamilton (Lothians) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive for what purpose any money removed from the bank accounts of former NHS Trusts since they were wound up has been used and what any remaining funds will be used for.

Susan Deacon: On 1 April 1999, assets and liabilities of the demitting NHS Trusts were transferred to the new reconfigured Trusts. The bank balances of the old Trusts were among those balances.

  The exception was surplus working capital.

  The Minister for Finance announced to Parliament, on 6 October 1999, that NHS surplus working capital balances which, under Treasury rules, could not be used for the NHS would be carried in the Scottish Consolidated Fund until it could be used for the repayment of housing debt in 2001-02.

  This was a technical adjustment that ensured that the Scottish Executive was able to utilise excess cash, which would otherwise have had to be returned to Treasury.

NHS Funding

Lord James Douglas-Hamilton (Lothians) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive how much money there currently is in the bank accounts of former NHS Trusts.

Susan Deacon: There is no money currently held in the bank accounts of former NHS Trusts.

NHS Funding

Mary Scanlon (Highlands and Islands) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will provide a breakdown by health board and NHS Trust of the £44 million of NHS cash balances for use in the repayment of NHP debt principle as indicated in Making a Difference for Scotland .

Susan Deacon: The Minister for Finance announced to Parliament on 6 October 1999 that NHS surplus working capital balances which, under Treasury rules, could not be used for the NHS would be carried forward in the Scottish Consolidated Fund until it can be used for the repayment of housing debt in 2001-02.

  This was a technical adjustment that ensured that the Scottish Executive was able to utilise excess cash, which would otherwise have had to be returned to the Treasury.

  The table provides a breakdown of the NHS cash balances referred to.

  


Health Board 
  

Trust 
  

£000 
  

£000 
  



Argyll & Clyde 
  

Royal Alexandra 
  

2,600 
  









Inverclyde Royal 
  

449 
  









Total Health Board 
  




3,049 
  



Borders 
  

Borders General 
  

1,452 
  









Borders Community 
  

1,147 
  









Total Health Board 
  




2,599 
  



Dumfries & Galloway 
  

Dumfries & Galloway Acute 
  

1,112 
  









Total Health Board 
  




1,112 
  



Fife 
  

Queen Margaret 
  

2,349 
  









Fife Healthcare 
  

9,411 
  









Total Health Board 
  




11,760 
  



Glasgow 
  

Glasgow Dental 
  

 70 
  









Glasgow Royal Infirmary 
  

 615 
  









Stobhill 
  

 319 
  









West Glasgow 
  

 627 
  









Total Health Board 
  




1,631 
  



Grampian 
  

Grampian Healthcare 
  

 479 
  









Total Health Board 
  




 479 
  



Lanarkshire 
  

Monklands & Bellshill 
  

6,614 
  









Lanarkshire Healthcare 
  

 444 
  









Total Health Board 
  




7,058 
  



Lothian 
  

West Lothian 
  

6,217 
  









Edinburgh Healthcare 
  

7,706 
  









Total Health Board 
  




13,923 
  






TOTAL ALL HEALTH BOARDS 
  




41,611 
  



  The actual figure returned at £41.6 million is marginally less than the £44 million originally estimated. This arose from a late adjustment following a further review of Trust balance sheets.

  The answer to question S1W-10993 explained why these balances could not be used for NHS purposes.

NHS Funding

Nicola Sturgeon (Glasgow) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive how much it received from each NHSiS Trust in the last three financial years under the 6% return on capital assets rule.

Susan Deacon: The Scottish Executive provides funding to NHSScotland to allow NHS Trusts to meet the 6% return on capital. The whole health budget, whatever its source, is invested in NHSScotland or other health-related activity.

  Our National Health: A plan for action, a plan for change signalled that the NHS financial regime is being reviewed to simplify processes, reduce bureaucracy and to give greater flexibility to NHS boards to maximise the benefits to patients from the Scottish Executive’s investment in the NHS.

NHS Services

Mr Brian Monteith (Mid Scotland and Fife) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it intends to abolish compulsory competitive tendering for support services in the NHS in Scotland.

Malcolm Chisholm: The Scottish Health Plan Our National Health: A plan for action, a plan for change , published on 14 December, states that the NHS should secure the provision of support services which offer best value and not just the lowest cost. The plan indicates that contracting out support services will often be appropriate but should not be seen as the norm.

  It is for NHS Trusts to decide how to go about securing the provision of support services, in light of current guidance to the NHS and of the direction set in Our National Health. Current guidance issued in 1998 states that, in examining options for the provision of support services, NHS Trusts should consider:

  shared services e.g. with other Trusts, health boards or local authorities;

  in-house partnerships;

  partnerships with the private sector, and

  market testing (including supporting in-house bids).

  The key objective remains to ensure the provision of high quality services which support satisfactory patient care and which offer demonstrable value for money.

NHS Services

Alex Johnstone (North-East Scotland) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive whether the recently disbanded task force to oversee the management of NHS services in Tayside will produce a final report and what the reasons are for the position on this matter.

Susan Deacon: There is to be no final report from the task force. The Chief Executive and senior officials from the Scottish Executive Health Department met with representatives from NHS Tayside and the task force to ensure that the four areas of concern identified in the task force report published in June 2000 have been addressed satisfactorily. I have also met with the task force to ensure appropriate lessons have been learned and action taken.

NHS Staff

Trish Godman (West Renfrewshire) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what measures are being put in place to give NHSiS staff greater protection against acts of violence.

Susan Deacon: Over the past year £0.5 million has been made available for the introduction of safety and security measures, such as the provision of access to mobile phones for community nurses, midwives and health visitors. The Occupational Health and Safety Strategy for NHS in Scotland staff makes clear that employers must risk assess all tasks and activities and develop local policies based on risk, aimed at reducing violent incidents in the workplace. Policies could include measures such as training in the use of techniques designed to diffuse potentially violent situations and crime prevention and safety techniques.

  Guidance and a model policy on Dignity at Work: Eliminating Bullying and Harassment in the Workplace has been issued and work has begun on further guidance covering employee health at work which include personal safety and a model policy for the management of violence and aggression.

  Regulations are now in force which enable boards and Trusts to take account of which GP practice is best placed to deal with a potentially violent patient and to ensure that treatment is provided at appropriate premises.

NHS Trusts

Nicola Sturgeon (Glasgow) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive how it spent any money received from NHSiS Trusts in the last financial year under the 6% return on capital assets rule.

Susan Deacon: All health budget resources, whatever their source, are invested in NHSScotland or in other health-related activity.

NHS Waiting Times

Richard Lochhead (North-East Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive whether the Information Statistics Division records out-patient waiting times and, if not, whether it intends to do so in future.

Susan Deacon: Information on waiting times for a first out-patient appointment with a consultant, following referral by a General Medical Practitioner/General Dental Practitioner, is collected centrally by the Information and Statistics Division of the Common Services Agency. This information is published in Scottish Health Statistics and in other ISD releases which are available on the internet:

  http://www.show.nhs.uk/isd.

New Opportunities Fund

Michael Russell (South of Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive how many applications to the New Opportunities Fund have been unsuccessful and what total amount of funding was sought by unsuccessful applications.

Allan Wilson: This is a matter for the New Opportunities Fund, which has written to the member and is lodging information on   unsuccessful applications in the Parliament’s Reference Centre.

New Opportunities Fund

Michael Russell (South of Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will list all successful and unsuccessful applications to the New Opportunities Fund by local authority area.

Allan Wilson: No.   This is a matter for the New Opportunities Fund, which provides information on successful applications for assistance on its website at www.nof.org.uk. The head of the fund in Scotland has written to the member and is also lodging information about applications in the Parliament’s Reference Centre.

Nordic Council

Mr Kenny MacAskill (Lothians) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what the process is for seeking membership of or observer status to the Nordic Council and whether it has any plans to make any such application.

Mr Jack McConnell: The Executive has no plans to enter into discussions about membership of, or observer status to, the Nordic Council. Scotland has long-standing links with the Nordic countries which we value and which have involved co-operation on matters of mutual interest.

Organ Transplants

Mary Scanlon (Highlands and Islands) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive what response it will make to the British Transplant Society protocol which stated that informed consent of the next of kin is mandatory before the patient is accepted for elective ventilation.

Malcolm Chisholm: The key issue about elective ventilation is that the procedure is illegal. It breaches the common law principle that, while patients have the right to give or withhold consent to treatment, such consent extends only to treatment intended to benefit the patient. Elective ventilation is, however, undertaken with the intention of benefiting the potential recipient of the patient’s organs. It is therefore academic that the discussion document produced by the British Transplantation Society in 1995 stresses that informed consent of the next of kin would be needed before a patient were to be accepted for elective ventilation.

Organ Transplants

Mary Scanlon (Highlands and Islands) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive whether sufficient intensive care unit and high dependency unit beds are available for comatose patients with potential for organ donation.

Susan Deacon: There is no evidence in Scotland that there are insufficient ICU beds available for this purpose. The Executive has invested in both ICU and HDU beds and the nurses with critical care skills needed to staff those beds.

Organ Transplants

Dorothy-Grace Elder (Glasgow) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what the average waiting period is for a kidney transplant, broken down by age group and health board.

Malcolm Chisholm: The information requested cannot be broken by health board for reasons of patient confidentiality. The average waiting time broken down by age group is set out in the table. It is based on registrations rather than patients i.e. a patient who is registered a second time (e.g. for a re-transplant) will be counted twice.

  


Age (years) 
  

Number of registrations 
  

Median waiting time (days) 
  



0-5 
  

18 
  

143 
  



6-11 
  

35 
  

175 
  



12-17 
  

106 
  

199 
  



18-34 
  

411 
  

373 
  



35-49 
  

773 
  

387 
  



50-59 
  

510 
  

441 
  



60-64 
  

268 
  

361 
  



65+ 
  

361 
  

430 
  



  Note: Some of these totals are too small (e.g. less than about 50) for the median values to be informative and should thus be treated with caution. Comparisons between these median times also need to be assessed with care.

Organ Transplants

Dorothy-Grace Elder (Glasgow) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive how many kidney transplants have been carried out in each of the past five years, broken down by age group and health board, and how many of these transplants have been successful.

Malcolm Chisholm: It is not possible to provide the information in the form requested for reasons of patient confidentiality.

Organ Transplants

Dorothy-Grace Elder (Glasgow) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive how many people have died from kidney failure or related factors while waiting for a kidney transplant in each of the last five years, broken down by age group and health board.

Malcolm Chisholm: Information on the actual cause of death of patients who die on the active kidney transplant waiting list is not available. Information on the number of patients who died after joining the waiting list but before being transplanted is available from the Scottish Renal Registry.

Parliamentary Questions

Mr Gil Paterson (Central Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive when it will provide a substantive answer to question S1W-7421 lodged on 31 May 2000.

Angus MacKay: Question S1W-7421 was answered on 27 November 2000.

Planning

Nick Johnston (Mid Scotland and Fife) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S1W-11108 by Mr Sam Galbraith on 23 November 2000, what measures replaced or will be introduced to replace the previously held rights of regional councils to call in controversial planning applications which were made by district councils or which breached structure plans or local plans.

Mr Sam Galbraith: None. Councils are usually the planning authority for an area and their responsibilities include taking decisions on most planning applications. The Scottish ministers may, in certain circumstances, call-in planning applications for their own determination.

Post Offices

Mr Adam Ingram (South of Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will be participating in the planned review by Her Majesty’s Government of the rural post office network due to report in autumn 2001.

Ross Finnie: The Postal Services Commission will advise the UK Government on the best way to channel financial assistance to rural post offices. It is due to report by autumn 2001. The Scottish Executive will be participating in the consultation process planned by the commission.

Post Offices

Mr Adam Ingram (South of Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive which department and minister will be responsible for representing its interests in relation to the structure of the post office network in Scotland.

Ross Finnie: The Minister for Enterprise and Lifelong Learning has the overall responsibility for post office matters within the Scottish Executive but I am the lead minister on day-to-day issues and in attending relevant meetings at UK level.

Pre-School Education

Maureen Macmillan (Highlands and Islands) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what the implications will be for pre-school provision when the Disability Discrimination Act 1995 is extended to education.

Nicol Stephen: Disability issues are reserved. The UK Government’s forthcoming Disability Bill will impose new duties upon local authorities, independent schools and grant-aided schools in relation to the provision of nursery, primary and secondary education. This will include a duty to provide education by a reasonable alternative method where a physical feature places a disabled child at a substantial disadvantage.

  The Bill will also introduce a duty on local education authorities to plan to increase access for pupils and children with disabilities. The planning duty, however, will not apply in Scotland, as planning, which deals with the organisation and administration of schools, is an educational matter and is thus devolved.

  Scottish ministers are considering introducing a similar duty on Scottish local authorities in line with the UK Bill which is being progressed through the Westminster Parliament.

  The Bill has no implications for the provision of pre-school education when that education takes place in private and voluntary partner centres. As providers of child care—which is covered under Part III of the Disability Discrimination Act 1995—these centres already have duties not to discriminate against the disabled.

Renewable Energy

Mr David Davidson (North-East Scotland) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it has investigated any effect of "shadow flicker" produced by wind turbine blades on the health of people living within sight of wind farms.

Mr Sam Galbraith: No such investigations have been undertaken. However we commissioned a survey by System 3 of public attitudes to wind farms last year among over 400 people who live near Scotland’s operational wind farms. None of the responses cited shadow flicker as a problem.

  Annex A of the Scottish Executive Planning Advice Note PAN 45. Renewable Energy Technologies deals with planning implications for wind turbines in Scotland and includes consideration of various potential health and safety issues including "glinting" and "shadow flicker". It also provides indicative criteria on the need for an Environmental Impact Assessment under Schedule 2 of the Environmental Impact Assessment (Scotland) Regulations 1988, since replaced by the Electricity Works (Environmental Impact Assessment) (Scotland) Regulations 2000.

Renewable Energy

Mr David Davidson (North-East Scotland) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it has investigated any effect of "glinting" produced by wind turbine blades on the health of people living within sight of wind farms.

Mr Sam Galbraith: A matt paint finish has been used to avoid any problems which might have arisen from glinting from wind turbine blades.

  Annex A of the Scottish Executive Planning Advice Note PAN 45. Renewable Energy Technologies deals with planning implications for wind turbines in Scotland and includes consideration of various potential health and safety problems including "shadow flicker". It also provides indicative criteria on the need for an Environmental Impact Assessment under Schedule 2 of the Environmental Impact Assessment (Scotland) Regulations 1988, since replaced by the Electricity Works (Environmental Impact Assessment) (Scotland) Regulations 2000.

  Wind farms are making an increasingly important contribution to renewable energy production and reduction of greenhouse gas in Scotland, and the Executive is satisfied that adequate consideration of any possible health effects is provided by the current planning requirements.

Renewable Energy

Mr David Davidson (North-East Scotland) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it is aware of any exacerbation of migraine or epilepsy experienced by people living near windfarms, caused by rotating turbine blades.

Mr Sam Galbraith: Annex A of the Scottish Executive Planning Advice Note PAN 45. Renewable Energy Technologies deals with planning implications for wind turbines in Scotland and includes consideration of various potential health and safety issues including "glinting" and "shadow flicker". It also provides indicative criteria on the need for an Environmental Impact Assessment under Schedule 2 of the Environmental Impact Assessment (Scotland) Regulations 1988, since replaced by the Electricity Works (Environmental Impact Assessment) (Scotland) Regulations 2000.

  A System 3 Social Research study on "Public attitudes towards wind farms in Scotland" was commissioned recently by the Scottish Executive Central Research Unit. A total of 430 telephone interviews were conducted among residents living in closest proximity to existing Scottish wind farms and no problems with shadow flicker or glinting were reported.

  The British Epilepsy Association and the British Wind Energy Association have indicated that they have received no reports of epileptic seizures or other health effects that could reasonably be attributed to wind turbines.

  Wind turbines make important contributions to renewable energy production and reduction of greenhouse gas in Scotland, and the Executive is satisfied that adequate consideration of any possible health effects is provided by the current planning guidelines.

Residential Care

Alex Neil (Central Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive how much will be spent on providing NHSiS nursing care to residents of private nursing homes in each of the next three years and how many NHSiS beds will become available as a result.

Malcolm Chisholm: Of the 20,000 persons in nursing homes currently, 4,300 fund their own care, the remainder being funded by local authorities and DSS. As announced on 5 October, the NHSiS will be responsible for funding the nursing care of all residents of nursing homes. The estimated cost of funding the nursing care of all residents of nursing homes will be £100 million per annum. Of that, £75 million will represent transfers of responsibility and resources. It is not practical to estimate how these figures might change over the next three years nor how many NHSiS beds if any will become available as a result.

Roads

Mr Murray Tosh (South of Scotland) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the statement by the Minister for Transport and the Environment on 28 September 2000, what resources it has budgeted to spend in each of 2002-03 and 2003-04 on substantial capital construction of (a) the A80/M80 upgrading, (b) the A8/M8 upgrading and (c) additional and upgraded Kincardine Bridges.

Sarah Boyack: Following the Strategic Roads Review, the A80/M80 and the A8/M8 corridors are the subject of multi-modal transport studies. The main studies began late last year and are due to be completed in spring next year. Similarly, consultants have been engaged to take forward studies into the construction of a new crossing and upgrading of the existing bridge at Kincardine. Decisions on future capital funding requirements will follow consideration of the reports in each case.

Roads

Mr Murray Tosh (South of Scotland) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the statement by the Minister for Transport and the Environment on 28 September 2000, whether it has received and considered the Halcrow Fox study carried out to consider, inter alia, the proposed Aberdeen Western Peripheral Route and whether it will now commission a new study of the proposed route to subject it to the New Appraisal Methodology used for the 1999 Strategic Roads Review.

Sarah Boyack: Scottish Executive officials received a copy of the most recent Halcrow Fox report for the North East Scotland Economic Development Partnership, Delivery of an Integrated Transport Strategy for North East Scotland , in August last year. Officials have met partnership representatives on three occasions since to discuss delivery of the Modern Transport System. It is clear that further essential traffic analysis and appraisal are needed. Officials are considering with the partnership how this can best be undertaken.

Roads

Mr Murray Tosh (South of Scotland) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the statement by the Minister for Transport and the Environment on 28 September 2000, whether her reply to Mr David Davidson ( Official Report , col. 820) means that it will only allow the proposed Aberdeen Western peripheral route to proceed if the local authorities use the powers conferred on them by the Transport (Scotland) Bill or the New Roads and Street Works Act 1991 and that it will in no circumstances contribute itself to the construction of this road.

Sarah Boyack: The proposed Aberdeen Western Peripheral route is one part of the Modern Transport System being progressed by the North East Scotland Economic Development Partnership. The partnership plan delivery of the route by 2011. The Executive’s work with the partnership on delivery will include the range of options to fund the Modern Transport System.

Schools

Richard Lochhead (North-East Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive how many incidents of violence and aggression against school staff have been recorded, by local authority area, for each of the last three years.

Mr Jack McConnell: Information on violence against local authority school staff has been collected centrally since 1997-98. In that year the total number of incidents reported across Scotland was 743. In 1998-99 a total of 1,898 incidents were reported. Figures covering the 1999-2000 school year will be published early in 2001.

  Comparisons cannot be made between the 1997-98 and 1998-99 figures, because some authorities did not reply to the 1997-98 survey and because systematic and consistent reporting procedures are not in place in all local authorities.

  Because of concerns about the consistency of recording, I am unable to give a breakdown of the figures by local authority area at this stage. The Scottish Executive is currently considering how this situation can be remedied.

Schools

Donald Gorrie (Central Scotland) (LD): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will ensure that future PFI or PPP schemes involving schools include provision to ensure that the schools and the local authority have guaranteed priority use of facilities after school hours, at weekends and in the holidays.

Mr Jack McConnell: The details of the contracts for such schemes are matters between the education authority and the contractors concerned. The parties to such a contract would take a number of factors into account where out of hours use of facilities is an issue, including the needs of the schools and the wider community.

  However, I support the principle that school premises and facilities generally should be accessible for community use. I propose to raise this with COSLA to discuss ways in which access can be improved and encouraged.

Scots Language

Irene McGugan (North-East Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S1W-11353 by Allan Wilson on 1 December 2000, whether it will detail the specific role school co-ordinators will play in the promotion of the Scots language.

Allan Wilson: In inviting education authorities to participate in the pilot programme we shall set out a general framework of objectives for school co-ordinators. We do not propose to identify particular areas of cultural activity in which co-ordinators should be involved. Within the general framework, that will be for schools and education authorities to determine.

Scottish Environment Protection Agency

Richard Lochhead (North-East Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive how many court proceedings were initiated by the Scottish Environment Protection Agency and how many and what percentage of the cases taken to court resulted in a conviction, broken down for each year since the establishment of the agency.

Mr Sam Galbraith: The numbers of cases involving alleged contravention of environmental protection legislation referred to the Procurator Fiscal service by the Scottish Environment Protection Agency are set out in the table.

  The decision on whether or not to proceed with prosecution in a particular case is for the Procurator Fiscal. The numbers of cases proceeded with and convictions secured are shown in the table.

  

 

1/4/1996 to 31/3/1997 
  

1/4/1997 to 31/3/1998 
  

1/4/1998 to 31/3/1999 
  

1/4/1999 to 31/3/2000 
  

1/4/2000 to 26/1/2001 
  



Cases referred to Procurators Fiscal1


37 
  

70 
  

73 
  

84 
  

51 
  



Cases proceeded with 
  

26 
  

49 
  

38 
  

48 
  

172




Percentage of cases proceeded with 
  

70% 
  

70% 
  

52% 
  

57% 
  

33%2




Cases resulting in conviction


24 
  

44 
  

30 
  

43 
  

15 
  



Percentage of cases proceeded with resulting in conviction 
  

92% 
  

90% 
  

79% 
  

90% 
  

88% 
  



  Notes:

  1. Figures may differ slightly to those published in SEPA’s annual reports, depending on when legal proceedings were resolved.

  2. 25 cases are currently under consideration by the Procurator Fiscal service.

Scottish Executive Publications

Mr Keith Harding (Mid Scotland and Fife) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will detail the cost of its Social Justice Annual Report 2000 including its publication, launch and distribution costs.

Jackie Baillie: The publication, web conversion and distribution of the Social Justice Annual Report 2000 , its summary and the technical companion cost £49,014. The launch cost £3,133.

Single European Currency

Mr Duncan Hamilton (Highlands and Islands) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what steps are being taken to help businesses prepare for possible entry into the euro.

Ms Wendy Alexander: Policy on UK membership of the Single European Currency is a reserved function. The policy was set out in a statement by the Chancellor of the Exchequer to the House of Commons in October 1997 and re-stated by the Prime Minister in February 1999.

  The Treasury provides regular reports on UK preparations, in anticipation of possible entry. The latest report, the fourth in the series, was published in November 2000.

  Since the introduction of the euro within the current Euro-Zone area, advice to Scottish Businesses on the euro has been available through the EuroInfoCentre, located at Scottish Enterprise.

Special Educational Needs

Mr Lloyd Quinan (West of Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive how many special educational needs teachers were employed in state primary and secondary schools from 1997 to 2000.

Nicol Stephen: Reliable information is not available on the number of special educational needs teachers employed in state primary and secondary schools from 1997 to 2000.

Teachers

Richard Lochhead (North-East Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive how many teachers (a) took early retirement and (b) resigned in each of the last five years, broken down by sector for each local authority area.

Mr Jack McConnell: The following tables show the latest information available on teachers taking early retirement. No information is held centrally which could identify separately those teachers who resign.

  As you are aware, I have recently sent a report on the supply of teachers to the Convener of the Education, Culture and Sport Committee detailing the background to the current position on the collection of information relevant to teacher supply and outlining planned improvements to current methods. Copies of this report have been placed in the Parliament’s Reference Centre for the information of all members. These tables will be inserted into the report as Annex H.

  


Teachers Taking Early Retirement (headcount), from Education 
  Authority schools, from April 1995 - April 1996, by Education 
  Authority and Sector 
  






Total 
  

Nursery 
  

Primary 
  

Secondary 
  

Special 
  



Scotland 
  

294 
  

4 
  

152 
  

131 
  

7 
  



Aberdeen City 
  

0 
  

0 
  

0 
  

0 
  

0 
  



Aberdeenshire 
  

0 
  

0 
  

0 
  

0 
  

0 
  



Angus 
  

0 
  

0 
  

0 
  

0 
  

0 
  



Argyll & Bute 
  

0 
  

0 
  

0 
  

0 
  

0 
  



Clackmannanshire 
  

19 
  

0 
  

6 
  

13 
  

0 
  



Dumfries & Galloway 
  

0 
  

0 
  

0 
  

0 
  

0 
  



Dundee City 
  

0 
  

0 
  

0 
  

0 
  

0 
  



East Ayrshire 
  

0 
  

0 
  

0 
  

0 
  

0 
  



East Dunbartonshire 
  

13 
  

0 
  

8 
  

5 
  

0 
  



East Lothian 
  

14 
  

1 
  

10 
  

3 
  

0 
  



East Renfrewshire 
  

7 
  

1 
  

3 
  

3 
  

0 
  



Edinburgh, City of 
  

25 
  

0 
  

6 
  

15 
  

4 
  



Eilean Siar 
  

0 
  

0 
  

0 
  

0 
  

0 
  



Falkirk 
  

8 
  

0 
  

4 
  

4 
  

0 
  



Fife 
  

72 
  

0 
  

40 
  

32 
  

0 
  



Glasgow City 
  

30 
  

0 
  

19 
  

10 
  

1 
  



Highland 
  

0 
  

0 
  

0 
  

0 
  

0 
  



Inverclyde 
  

5 
  

0 
  

3 
  

2 
  

0 
  



Midlothian 
  

13 
  

1 
  

9 
  

3 
  

0 
  



Moray 
  

6 
  

0 
  

2 
  

3 
  

1 
  



North Ayrshire 
  

26 
  

0 
  

13 
  

12 
  

1 
  



North Lanarkshire 
  

0 
  

0 
  

0 
  

0 
  

0 
  



Orkney Islands 
  

0 
  

0 
  

0 
  

0 
  

0 
  



Perth & Kinross 
  

0 
  

0 
  

0 
  

0 
  

0 
  



Renfrewshire 
  

0 
  

0 
  

0 
  

0 
  

0 
  



Scottish Borders 
  

5 
  

0 
  

4 
  

1 
  

0 
  



Shetland Islands 
  

0 
  

0 
  

0 
  

0 
  

0 
  



South Ayrshire 
  

0 
  

0 
  

0 
  

0 
  

0 
  



South Lanarkshire 
  

0 
  

0 
  

0 
  

0 
  

0 
  



Stirling 
  

0 
  

0 
  

0 
  

0 
  

0 
  



West Dunbartonshire 
  

0 
  

0 
  

0 
  

0 
  

0 
  



West Lothian 
  

51 
  

1 
  

25 
  

25 
  

0 
  



  


Teachers Taking Early Retirement (headcount), from Education 
  Authority schools, from April 1996 - April 1997, by Education 
  Authority and Sector 
  







Total 
  

Nursery 
  

Primary 
  

Secondary 
  

Special 
  



Scotland 
  

1,758 
  

15 
  

737 
  

918 
  

88 
  



Aberdeen City 
  

61 
  

0 
  

33 
  

27 
  

1 
  



Aberdeenshire 
  

80 
  

0 
  

48 
  

30 
  

2 
  



Angus 
  

46 
  

0 
  

23 
  

16 
  

7 
  



Argyll & Bute 
  

33 
  

0 
  

16 
  

16 
  

1 
  



Clackmannanshire 
  

32 
  

1 
  

19 
  

12 
  

0 
  



Dumfries & Galloway 
  

27 
  

0 
  

9 
  

16 
  

2 
  



Dundee City 
  

61 
  

1 
  

25 
  

33 
  

2 
  



East Ayrshire 
  

19 
  

0 
  

5 
  

14 
  

0 
  



East Dunbartonshire 
  

56 
  

0 
  

39 
  

17 
  

0 
  



East Lothian 
  

33 
  

0 
  

16 
  

16 
  

1 
  



East Renfrewshire 
  

19 
  

0 
  

8 
  

11 
  

0 
  



Edinburgh, City of 
  

56 
  

2 
  

30 
  

23 
  

1 
  



Eilean Siar 
  

12 
  

0 
  

4 
  

8 
  

0 
  



Falkirk 
  

68 
  

0 
  

41 
  

25 
  

2 
  



Fife 
  

108 
  

0 
  

40 
  

61 
  

7 
  



Glasgow City 
  

315 
  

1 
  

111 
  

179 
  

24 
  



Highland 
  

86 
  

2 
  

30 
  

52 
  

2 
  



Inverclyde 
  

8 
  

0 
  

5 
  

3 
  

0 
  



Midlothian 
  

36 
  

3 
  

16 
  

13 
  

4 
  



Moray 
  

27 
  

1 
  

12 
  

11 
  

3 
  



North Ayrshire 
  

22 
  

0 
  

12 
  

9 
  

1 
  



North Lanarkshire 
  

66 
  

1 
  

21 
  

42 
  

2 
  



Orkney Islands 
  

18 
  

0 
  

7 
  

11 
  

0 
  



Perth & Kinross 
  

54 
  

0 
  

27 
  

25 
  

2 
  



Renfrewshire 
  

34 
  

0 
  

15 
  

13 
  

6 
  



Scottish Borders 
  

68 
  

0 
  

34 
  

29 
  

5 
  



Shetland Islands 
  

8 
  

0 
  

3 
  

5 
  

0 
  



South Ayrshire 
  

19 
  

0 
  

11 
  

8 
  

0 
  



South Lanarkshire 
  

165 
  

0 
  

12 
  

153 
  

0 
  



Stirling 
  

42 
  

1 
  

21 
  

13 
  

7 
  



West Dunbartonshire 
  

51 
  

1 
  

28 
  

18 
  

4 
  



West Lothian 
  

28 
  

1 
  

16 
  

9 
  

2 
  



  


Teachers Taking Early Retirement (headcount), from Education 
  Authority schools, from April 1997 - April 1998, by Education 
  Authority and Sector 
  







Total 
  

Nursery 
  

Primary 
  

Secondary 
  

Special 
  



Scotland 
  

204 
  

9 
  

74 
  

112 
  

9 
  



Aberdeen City 
  

15 
  

0 
  

10 
  

4 
  

1 
  



Aberdeenshire 
  

11 
  

0 
  

7 
  

4 
  

0 
  



Angus 
  

9 
  

0 
  

2 
  

7 
  

0 
  



Argyll & Bute 
  

2 
  

0 
  

1 
  

1 
  

0 
  



Clackmannanshire 
  

1 
  

0 
  

1 
  

0 
  

0 
  



Dumfries & Galloway 
  

8 
  

0 
  

4 
  

4 
  

0 
  



Dundee City 
  

1 
  

0 
  

0 
  

1 
  

0 
  



East Ayrshire 
  

7 
  

1 
  

2 
  

3 
  

1 
  



East Dunbartonshire 
  

3 
  

0 
  

1 
  

2 
  

0 
  



East Lothian 
  

1 
  

0 
  

1 
  

0 
  

0 
  



East Renfrewshire 
  

1 
  

0 
  

1 
  

0 
  

0 
  



Edinburgh, City of 
  

10 
  

0 
  

3 
  

6 
  

1 
  



Eilean Siar 
  

2 
  

0 
  

0 
  

2 
  

0 
  



Falkirk 
  

3 
  

0 
  

1 
  

2 
  

0 
  



Fife 
  

13 
  

0 
  

10 
  

3 
  

0 
  



Glasgow City 
  

30 
  

5 
  

0 
  

25 
  

0 
  



Highland 
  

4 
  

1 
  

1 
  

2 
  

0 
  



Inverclyde 
  

0 
  

0 
  

0 
  

0 
  

0 
  



Midlothian 
  

7 
  

0 
  

3 
  

3 
  

1 
  



Moray 
  

4 
  

0 
  

0 
  

2 
  

2 
  



North Ayrshire 
  

14 
  

0 
  

7 
  

7 
  

0 
  



North Lanarkshire 
  

21 
  

0 
  

6 
  

14 
  

1 
  



Orkney Islands 
  

3 
  

0 
  

1 
  

2 
  

0 
  



Perth & Kinross 
  

5 
  

0 
  

4 
  

1 
  

0 
  



Renfrewshire 
  

3 
  

1 
  

1 
  

1 
  

0 
  



Scottish Borders 
  

0 
  

0 
  

0 
  

0 
  

0 
  



Shetland Islands 
  

2 
  

0 
  

1 
  

1 
  

0 
  



South Ayrshire 
  

6 
  

0 
  

1 
  

4 
  

1 
  



South Lanarkshire 
  

2 
  

0 
  

0 
  

1 
  

1 
  



Stirling 
  

13 
  

1 
  

3 
  

9 
  

0 
  



West Dunbartonshire 
  

0 
  

0 
  

0 
  

0 
  

0 
  



West Lothian 
  

3 
  

0 
  

2 
  

1 
  

0 
  



  


Teachers Taking Early Retirement (headcount), from Education 
  Authority schools, from April 1998 - April 1999, by Education 
  Authority and Sector 
  







Total 
  

Nursery 
  

Primary 
  

Secondary 
  

Special 
  



Scotland 
  

196 
  

2 
  

72 
  

119 
  

3 
  



Aberdeen City 
  

7 
  

0 
  

3 
  

4 
  

0 
  



Aberdeenshire 
  

5 
  

0 
  

3 
  

2 
  

0 
  



Angus 
  

5 
  

0 
  

1 
  

3 
  

1 
  



Argyll & Bute 
  

0 
  

0 
  

0 
  

0 
  

0 
  



Clackmannanshire 
  

4 
  

0 
  

4 
  

0 
  

0 
  



Dumfries & Galloway 
  

4 
  

0 
  

2 
  

1 
  

1 
  



Dundee City 
  

4 
  

0 
  

0 
  

4 
  

0 
  



East Ayrshire 
  

17 
  

0 
  

6 
  

11 
  

0 
  



East Dunbartonshire 
  

3 
  

0 
  

0 
  

3 
  

0 
  



East Lothian 
  

1 
  

0 
  

1 
  

0 
  

0 
  



East Renfrewshire 
  

2 
  

0 
  

2 
  

0 
  

0 
  



Edinburgh, City of 
  

20 
  

0 
  

6 
  

14 
  

0 
  



Eilean Siar 
  

8 
  

0 
  

0 
  

8 
  

0 
  



Falkirk 
  

2 
  

0 
  

0 
  

1 
  

1 
  



Fife 
  

12 
  

0 
  

5 
  

7 
  

0 
  



Glasgow City 
  

18 
  

0 
  

2 
  

16 
  

0 
  



Highland 
  

2 
  

0 
  

1 
  

1 
  

0 
  



Inverclyde 
  

0 
  

0 
  

0 
  

0 
  

0 
  



Midlothian 
  

4 
  

0 
  

2 
  

2 
  

0 
  



Moray 
  

7 
  

0 
  

5 
  

2 
  

0 
  



North Ayrshire 
  

10 
  

0 
  

6 
  

4 
  

0 
  



North Lanarkshire 
  

20 
  

0 
  

8 
  

12 
  

0 
  



Orkney Islands 
  

0 
  

0 
  

0 
  

0 
  

0 
  



Perth & Kinross 
  

2 
  

0 
  

2 
  

0 
  

0 
  



Renfrewshire 
  

2 
  

2 
  

0 
  

0 
  

0 
  



Scottish Borders 
  

0 
  

0 
  

0 
  

0 
  

0 
  



Shetland Islands 
  

6 
  

0 
  

2 
  

4 
  

0 
  



South Ayrshire 
  

10 
  

0 
  

5 
  

5 
  

0 
  



South Lanarkshire 
  

14 
  

0 
  

1 
  

13 
  

0 
  



Stirling 
  

6 
  

0 
  

5 
  

1 
  

0 
  



West Dunbartonshire 
  

1 
  

0 
  

0 
  

1 
  

0 
  



West Lothian 
  

0 
  

0 
  

0 
  

0 
  

0 
  



  


 
Teachers Taking Early Retirement (headcount), from Education 
  Authority schools, from April 1999 - April 2000, by Education 
  Authority and Sector 
  







Total 
  

Nursery 
  

Primary 
  

Secondary 
  

Special 
  



Scotland 
  

86 
  

3 
  

40 
  

39 
  

4 
  



Aberdeen City 
  

2 
  

0 
  

0 
  

2 
  

0 
  



Aberdeenshire 
  

17 
  

0 
  

8 
  

7 
  

2 
  



Angus 
  

6 
  

0 
  

4 
  

2 
  

0 
  



Argyll & Bute 
  

0 
  

0 
  

0 
  

0 
  

0 
  



Clackmannanshire 
  

0 
  

0 
  

0 
  

0 
  

0 
  



Dumfries & Galloway 
  

0 
  

0 
  

0 
  

0 
  

0 
  



Dundee City 
  

0 
  

0 
  

0 
  

0 
  

0 
  



East Ayrshire 
  

11 
  

2 
  

3 
  

4 
  

2 
  



East Dunbartonshire 
  

2 
  

0 
  

2 
  

0 
  

0 
  



East Lothian 
  

0 
  

0 
  

0 
  

0 
  

0 
  



East Renfrewshire 
  

1 
  

0 
  

0 
  

1 
  

0 
  



Edinburgh, City of 
  

0 
  

0 
  

0 
  

0 
  

0 
  



Eilean Siar 
  

0 
  

0 
  

0 
  

0 
  

0 
  



Falkirk 
  

2 
  

0 
  

2 
  

0 
  

0 
  



Fife 
  

8 
  

0 
  

3 
  

5 
  

0 
  



Glasgow City 
  

5 
  

1 
  

4 
  

0 
  

0 
  



Highland 
  

0 
  

0 
  

0 
  

0 
  

0 
  



Inverclyde 
  

0 
  

0 
  

0 
  

0 
  

0 
  



Midlothian 
  

0 
  

0 
  

0 
  

0 
  

0 
  



Moray 
  

2 
  

0 
  

2 
  

0 
  

0 
  



North Ayrshire 
  

2 
  

0 
  

0 
  

2 
  

0 
  



North Lanarkshire 
  

2 
  

0 
  

0 
  

2 
  

0 
  



Orkney Islands 
  

0 
  

0 
  

0 
  

0 
  

0 
  



Perth & Kinross 
  

12 
  

0 
  

4 
  

8 
  

0 
  



Renfrewshire 
  

0 
  

0 
  

0 
  

0 
  

0 
  



Scottish Borders 
  

0 
  

0 
  

0 
  

0 
  

0 
  



Shetland Islands 
  

0 
  

0 
  

0 
  

0 
  

0 
  



South Ayrshire 
  

0 
  

0 
  

0 
  

0 
  

0 
  



South Lanarkshire 
  

10 
  

0 
  

4 
  

6 
  

0 
  



Stirling 
  

2 
  

0 
  

2 
  

0 
  

0 
  



West Dunbartonshire 
  

2 
  

0 
  

2 
  

0 
  

0 
  



West Lothian 
  

0 
  

0 
  

0 
  

0 
  

0

Tourism

Mr Kenny MacAskill (Lothians) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what plans it has to regulate or licence backpacker hostels.

Mr Alasdair Morrison: I have no such plans.

Tourism

Mr Kenny MacAskill (Lothians) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what representations it will make to Her Majesty’s Government in support of a reduced rate of VAT for youth hostels in Scotland as applies to youth hostels elsewhere in the EU in order to counter any impact this present disparity is having on tourism in rural areas.

Mr Alasdair Morrison: Any such representations would be made on a confidential basis.